Augmented reality channel sounding system

ABSTRACT

Methods, computer-readable media, and apparatuses for presenting a visualization of at least one wireless channel parameter as an overlay on top of an image of an environment are described. For example, a processing system including at least one processor may obtain at least a first wireless channel parameter of at least a first location, generate a first visualization of the at least the first wireless channel parameter, where the first visualization indicates at least one of: a magnitude of the at least the first wireless channel parameter or a direction of the at least the first wireless channel parameter, and present the first visualization of the at least the first wireless channel parameter as an overlay on top of a first image of an environment associated with the first location via a display device.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/107,911, filed Nov. 30, 2020, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,308,703, which isa continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/527,638, filedJul. 31, 2019, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,885,717, both of which are hereinincorporated by reference in their entirety.

The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communicationnetworks, and more particularly to methods, non-transitory computerreadable media, and apparatuses for presenting a visualization of atleast one wireless channel parameter as an overlay on top of an image ofan environment.

BACKGROUND

A wireless channel sounder is a device for measuring wireless channelrelated parameters such as complex impulse response, path loss, receivedsignal strength (RSS), excess delay, or root-mean-square (RMS) delayspread, Doppler spread, fade rate, angle of arrival (AoA) and/or angleof departure (AoD), and the like, as experienced by a user equipment orbase station. While these measurements are valuable to generatestatistical models of the wireless channel, a single measurement doesnot on its own provide much value.

SUMMARY

In one example, the present disclosure discloses a method,computer-readable medium, and apparatus for presenting a visualizationof at least one wireless channel parameter as an overlay on top of animage of an environment. For example, a processing system including atleast one processor may obtain at least a first wireless channelparameter of at least a first location, generate a first visualizationof at least the first wireless channel parameter, where the firstvisualization indicates at least one of a magnitude of the firstwireless channel parameter or a direction of the first wireless channelparameter, and present the first visualization of at least the firstwireless channel parameter as an overlay on top of a first image of anenvironment associated with the first location via a display device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The teachings of the present disclosure can be readily understood byconsidering the following detailed description in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system, in accordance with the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example visualization of wireless channelparameters as an overlay on top of an image of an environment, inaccordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates an additional example visualization of wirelesschannel parameters as an overlay on top of an image of an environment,in accordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for presenting avisualization of at least one wireless channel parameter as an overlayon top of an image of an environment; and

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a computing device, or computingsystem, specifically programmed to perform the steps, functions, blocks,and/or operations described herein.

To facilitate understanding, similar reference numerals have been used,where possible, to designate elements that are common to the figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure broadly discloses methods, computer-readablemedia, and apparatuses for presenting a visualization of at least onewireless channel parameter as an overlay on top of an image of anenvironment. Developing 3GPP Fifth Generation (5G) standards include theuse of millimeter wave frequencies (30 GHz to 300 GHz) as carrierfrequencies. The propagation loss of air at such frequencies isrelatively high. One technique to overcome this loss is the use ofbeamformed wireless communication. In beamformed communications,wireless signals are transmitted in a narrow beam. The concentration ofenergy in a narrow beam helps overcome the propagation loss of thewireless medium. Similarly, 5G receivers may also sense wireless signalsin a narrow region of space, allowing the capture of a large amount ofsignal energy and correspondingly low amounts of noise and interferenceenergy. This is relevant to channel sounding, as 5G channel modelsshould provide metrics with respect to a spatial grid around thetransmitter or the receiver. Although examples of the present disclosureare applicable to a wide range of frequency bands, in one example, thepresent disclosure may relate to channel sounding in centimeter andmillimeter wave ranges. For instance, for all of the examples herein,the considered wireless cellular communications standard may be theThird Generation Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR) and/or 5G radio accesstechnology.

For deployment and configuration of wireless network infrastructure, itis beneficial to obtain a wireless channel's propagation within thefrequency bands of interest to the standard. The act of making suchwireless channel propagation measurements is known as channel sounding.Channel sounding typically operates by transmitting a known wirelesssignal in the frequency band of interest by a channel soundingtransmitter, and subsequently receiving this signal at a differentlocation by a channel sounding receiver. Knowing both the transmittedand the received signal, the state of the channel at the time oftransmission can be extracted, resulting in what may be referred to as a“channel snapshot.” Multiple such channel snapshots can be acquired byvarying the hardware location, orientation, speed, time of transmission,and even the environment around the channel sounder transmitter and thechannel sounding receiver. While these measurements are valuable togenerate statistical models of the wireless channel, a singlemeasurement does not on its own provide much value. Thus, the resultingdataset of channel snapshots may be subsequently analyzed to extractchannel models to be used for standards development, as well as fornetwork infrastructure deployment, configuration, and optimization.

Examples of the present disclosure provide for visualizations of channelsounding information (broadly “channel sounding measurements” or“wireless channel properties”) via augmented reality (AR) devices. Asreferred to herein AR devices may include AR headsets, which may projectvisual information within the field of view of a user (e.g., wirelesschannel properties), and which may be perceived by the usersimultaneously with imagery of the environment. AR devices may alsoinclude devices which may capture imagery of an environment, projectadditional visual information (e.g., wireless channel properties) overthe imagery of the environment, and present the combined imagery of theenvironment and the wireless channel properties via a display screen. Inaddition AR devices may include virtual reality (VR) devices, which mayprovide for a display of imagery of an environment overlaid withadditional visual information (e.g., wireless channel properties), wherethe display via the VR device may occur at a location that is not thesame as the location(s) from which the wireless channel properties aremeasured.

In one example, directions of arrival and/or departure may be overlaidover imagery of the environment and may allow a user, such as networktechnician, to identify locations of interest. This can be performed inpost-processing (e.g., after the channel sounding, or measurement of thewireless channel parameters at multiple locations over a period of time)or in real-time (e.g., providing an AR view of the wireless channel asthe wireless channel parameters are measured, or as close as possible tothe time of the measurement of the wireless channel parameters, allowingfor device capabilities, network latency, etc.). For example, atechnician may wear AR glasses and “see” the wireless channel from theperspective of a channel sounder receiver, which may comprise a mobiledevice (e.g., a smartphone or user equipment (UE)) configured forwireless channel sounding, or a dedicated channel sounding receiver. Inone example, an AR device for presenting visualizations of wirelesschannel parameters may also comprise the channel sounding receiver forobtaining the wireless channel parameters. In another example, an ARdevice for presenting visualizations of wireless channel parameters maybe a separate device from one or more channel sounding receivers thatare used for channel sounding in the environment (obtaining/measuringthe wireless channel parameters). Examples of the present disclosuretherefore enhance the value of individual sounding channel snapshots.Through visualizations, the locations in the environment where the beamsare reflecting and impinging upon the receiver may be identified. Inaddition, in one example a technician may modify the environment and seein real-time or in near real-time the impact of the changes on thewireless channel.

In one example, based on multiple antennas at both transmitters andreceivers, a M×N (M transmit antennas and N receive antennas) multipleinput multiple output (MIMO) channel sounding system (comprising atleast one channel sounding transmitter and at least one channel soundingreceiver) is able to measure directional channel propagation at bothends of the wireless link (e.g., at the transmit and receive antennas)and improve resolution of the spatial multiple path parameters. In oneexample, a channel sounding system may transmit a known signal (broadlya “channel sounding signal” or “channel sounding waveform”) via a firsttransmit beam direction of a channel sounding transmitter, and measurethe channel parameters via all N receive antennas at a channel soundingreceiver. The channel sounding transmitter may then switch to a secondtransmit beam direction and the process repeats until all M×Ncombinations have been performed.

In one example, the channel sounding receiver may be provided withinformation regarding the channel sounding waveform(s) in advance oftransmission by the channel sounding transmitter. This may comprise anout-of-band wireless link, a cable connection between the transmitterand receiver, and so forth. Information regarding the at least onechannel sounding waveform may include a transmit beam identifier, one ormore modulation parameters of the at least one channel soundingwaveform, and so forth. By way of example and without any limitation, aZadoff-Chu (ZC) sequence in the time domain may be used for channelsounding. In another example, in the case of frequency domainprocessing, the sounding signal may be inserted before an inverse FastFourier Transform (iFFT) stage in the transmitter. Thus, parameters mayinclude an identification of a modulation coding scheme e.g., a binaryphase shift keying (BPSK) modulation coding scheme, a quadrature phaseshift keying (QPSK) modulation coding scheme, a frequency modulation(FM) scheme, an amplitude modulation (AM) scheme, a frequency shiftkeying (FSK) scheme, a modulation coding scheme based upon a precodingmatrix indicator, or a modulation coding scheme based upon precodercycling. Higher level encoding schemes such as 16-QAM, 64-QAM, and thelike may also be used in other examples.

From the received channel sounding waveforms, a channel soundingreceiver may capture measurements of wireless channel parameters (e.g.,one or more “key performance indicators” (KPIs)), such as a compleximpulse response, a path loss, a received signal strength (RSS), e.g., areference signal received power (RSRP), a carrier-to-interference (CIR)ratio (or signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)), an excess delay, aroot-mean-square (RMS) delay spread, an angular spread, a Dopplerspread, a fade rate, an angle of arrival (AoA), or the like, along withspatial orientation information, such as azimuth and elevation angles,and locations associated with the measurements.

In accordance with the present disclosure, a channel sounding receivermay tag a wireless channel parameter measurement withdirectional/spatial orientation information, i.e., in addition to alocation. In one example, the channel sounding receiver may calculate adirection, or spatial orientation of a receive beam with respect to alocal coordinate system, e.g., a three dimensional space withdimensions/axis aligned to a length, a width, and a depth of thereceiver device, for example. In yet another example, the channelsounding receiver may associate the angle of arrival (AoA) with awireless channel parameter measurement (and a location), (e.g., wherethe wireless channel parameter measurement relates to a received power).In one example, the channel sounding receiver does not tag a wirelesschannel parameter measurement (e.g., received signal strength) withspatial orientation information, but rather tags spatial orientationinformation of a measurement with the location. For instance, at a givenlocation, the primary direction from which the signal energy arrives isrecorded, but not the actual received signal strength.

In one example, locations, or geographic positions may be determined atthe channel sounding receiver device via a Global Positioning System(GPS) receiver, or may be derived using other location estimationmethods, such as cell identifier (cell ID) based methods, observed timedifference of arrival (OTDA) techniques, or barycentric triangulation.In this regard, it should be noted that any references herein to achannel sounding receiver may comprise a mobile channel soundingreceiver, i.e., a device that is portable and which can be moved fromlocation to location. For instance, a mobile channel sounding receivermay be moved with relative ease, such as one that may be carried by aperson or wheeled on a small cart that may be pushed or pulled by aperson. In addition, the orientation of the channel sounding receivermay be determined from a gyroscope and compass, allowing the channelsounding receiver device to determine a receive beam direction/spatialorientation, and to therefore measure wireless channel parameters withhigh spatial accuracy.

In one example, the channel sounding receiver may store one or morewireless channel parameter measurements in a record, along with thespatial orientation information and a location associated with thewireless channel parameter measurements, e.g., in a local memory. In oneexample, the channel sounding receiver may be deployed to obtainwireless channel parameter measurements at various locations within anenvironment and may collect and store all of the measurements. In oneexample, the channel sounding receiver may also capture imagery of anenvironment at one or more locations (e.g., still images/photos and/orvideo), which may similarly be stored in connection with the wirelesschannel parameter measurements from the respective locations. Forinstance, the channel sounding receiver may include a 360 degree camera,an omnidirectional camera, a plurality of cameras to capture imagery indifferent directions, etc. The imagery may be captured at the same timesor at different times as the corresponding wireless channel parametersare measured by the channel sounding receiver. For example, the capturedimagery of the environment may be used in examples where visualizationsof the wireless channel are experienced through a VR device that may beremote from the environment in which the channel sounding takes place.It should be noted that in another example, imagery of the environmentmay be captured via a separate device, such as digital camera, or adevice with an integrated digital camera, at a same time or at adifferent time from the channel sounding (the measuring of the wirelesschannel parameters). For instance, a separate 360 degree camera may bedeployed to the locations from which the wireless channel parameters aremeasured, and 360 degree images or video (broadly “imagery”) may becaptured and stored by the camera.

In one example, the channel sounding receiver may retrieve one or moremeasurements (wireless channel parameters), generate one or morevisualizations of one or more of the wireless channel parameters, andpresent the one or more visualizations as one or more overlays on top ofimage(s) of an environment that includes one or more locationsassociated with the one or more wireless channel parameters (e.g., via adisplay screen). For instance, in such an example the channel soundingreceiver and AR device may comprise an integrated device with componentsfor both functionalities. In another example, the channel soundingreceiver may provide the channel sounding measurements to an AR deviceto generate and present the one or more visualizations. Alternatively,or in addition, the channel sounding receiver may generate the one ormore visualizations and may provide the one or more visualizations to anAR device for presentation. In one example, the channel soundingreceiver and/or another device may also provide imagery of theenvironment associated with one or more locations to the AR device forpresentation in connection with the one or more visualizations. Forinstance, this may be performed when the AR device is a VR device thatis remote from the environment in which the channel sounding takesplace.

In another example, the measurements may be retrieved and transferred toanother device or system, e.g., a network-based server, for storageand/or analysis. For instance, similar data from the mobile channelsounding transmitter regarding the transmit beam(s), the channelsounding waveforms, the location(s) of the mobile channel soundingtransmitter, etc. may be uploaded to the same device or system andcorrelated with the measurements from the channel sounding receiver. Inanother example, the measurements from the channel sounding receiver maybe transferred to the mobile channel sounding transmitter for storageand/or analysis. This can be done after obtaining a series ofmeasurements, e.g., via a cable connection when the mobile channelsounding transmitter and receiver and together in a same location.However, in another example, all or a portion of the wireless channelparameter measurements may be transmitted wirelessly by the channelsounding receiver to the mobile channel sounding transmitter wirelesslyvia a network (e.g., via a cellular network, a non-cellular wirelessnetwork, and/or via a peer-to-peer wireless link). In one example,imagery of the environment associated with one or more locations in theenvironment may also be provided by the channel sounding receiver oranother device to the channel sounding transmitter and/or to a serverfor storage, analysis, and so forth.

In one example, the wireless channel parameters (and in one example,imagery of the environment) may be retrieved by the server and providedto an AR device to generate one or more visualizations of one or more ofthe wireless channel parameters, and to present the one or morevisualizations as one or more overlays on top of image(s) of anenvironment that includes one or more locations associated with the oneor more wireless channel parameters.

In one example, a visualization may comprise one or more vectorsrepresenting one or more wireless channel parameters. For instance,vectors may be generated and presented such that the vectors appear tobe pointing toward or away from a location of the AR device (e.g., at acurrent location in the physical environment, and/or from a perspectivewithin a virtual environment comprising the imagery that isrepresentative of the physical environment). For example, the wirelesschannel parameters may be represented as line segments having lengthsand/or thicknesses which are representative of the magnitudes of therespective wireless channel parameters. In another example, eachwireless channel parameter that is included in a visualization may berepresented by a line segment having a color corresponding to themagnitude according to a designated color scale. In addition, each linesegment, or vector, may have a direction that is indicative of an angleof arrival (AoA) (or angle of departure (AoD) for visualizations of thewireless channel from a transmitter perspective and/or with respect toan uplink from the perspective of a channel sounding receiver to achannel sounding transmitter).

In one example, a visualization may comprise one or more vectorsrepresenting one or more wireless channel parameters for other locationsthat are within a field of view of an AR device at a given location forwhich the visualization is rendered (e.g., locations which are visiblefrom a current perspective). For instance, a richer vector field may beprovided which includes not only the vectors for wireless channelparameters as measured from the given location, but also for othervisible locations. In one example, the perspective or viewport of the ARdevice may be changed (e.g., yaw, pitch, roll, locational movement,etc.) and a new or updated visualization of wireless channel parametersmay be generated and displayed accordingly.

In addition, in one example, a user may select to have differentwireless channel parameters displayed via an AR device. For instance,the user may first experience an environment via the AR device by havingvisualization(s) of one or more received signal strength (RSS)measurements presented. The user may then select to havevisualization(s) of one or more RMS delay spread measurements presented.In one example, multiple types of measurements may be included in avisualization to comprise a combined overlay. In such an example,different colors may be used to indicate vectors of different types(e.g., blue for RSS measurements and red for RMS delay spreadmeasurements, or the like), different thicknesses of vectors may be usedto indicate measurements of different types (e.g., where magnitudes maybe indicated by vector/segment length), and so on. These and otheraspects of the present disclosure are discussed in greater detail belowin connection with the examples of FIGS. 1-5.

To better understand the present disclosure, FIG. 1 illustrates anexample network, or system 100 in which examples of the presentdisclosure for presenting a visualization of at least one wirelesschannel parameter as an overlay on top of an image of an environment mayoperate. In one example, the system 100 includes a telecommunicationservice provider network 170. The telecommunication service providernetwork 170 may comprise a cellular network 101 (e.g., a 4G/Long TermEvolution (LTE) network, a 4G/5G hybrid network, or the like), a servicenetwork 140, and a core network, e.g., an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)core network 115. The system 100 may further include other networks 180connected to the telecommunication service provider network 170. FIG. 1also illustrates various mobile endpoint devices, e.g., user equipment(UE) 116 and 117. The UE 116 and 117 may each comprise a cellulartelephone, a smartphone, a tablet computing device, a laptop computer, apair of computing glasses, a wireless enabled wristwatch, or any othercellular-capable mobile telephony and computing devices (broadly, “amobile endpoint device”). In accordance with the present disclosure,either or both of UE 116 and UE 117 may comprise AR devices. Forexample, UE 117 may a wearable computing device (e.g., smart glasses, anAR and/or VR headset, or the like). Similarly, UE 116 may comprise amobile computing device, such as a smartphone, a tablet, or the likewith a 2D display screen. In one example, UE 116 may also include acamera to capture imagery of the environment. Either or both of UE 116and UE 117 may be used to render and/or to present visualizations ofwireless channel parameters as described herein.

In one example, the cellular network 101 comprises an access network 103and a core network, Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network 105. In oneexample, the access network 103 comprises a cloud RAN. For instance, acloud RAN is part of the 3^(rd) Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 5Gspecifications for mobile networks. As part of the migration of cellularnetworks towards 5G, a cloud RAN may be coupled to an EPC network untilnew cellular core networks are deployed in accordance with 5Gspecifications. In one example, access network 103 may include cellsites 111 and 112 and a baseband unit (BBU) pool 114. In a cloud RAN,radio frequency (RF) components, referred to as remote radio heads(RRHs), may be deployed remotely from baseband units, e.g., atop cellsite masts, buildings, and so forth. In one example, the BBU pool 114may be located at distances as far as 20-80 kilometers or more away fromthe antennas/remote radio heads of cell sites 111 and 112 that areserviced by the BBU pool 114. It should also be noted in accordance withefforts to migrate to 5G networks, cell sites may be deployed with newantenna and radio infrastructures such as multiple input multiple output(MIMO) antennas, and millimeter wave antennas. In this regard, a cell,e.g., the footprint or coverage area of a cell site may in someinstances be smaller than the coverage provided by NodeBs or eNodeBs of3G-4G RAN infrastructure. For example, the coverage of a cell siteutilizing one or more millimeter wave antennas may be 1000 feet or less.

Although cloud RAN infrastructure may include distributed RRHs andcentralized baseband units, a heterogeneous network may include cellsites where RRH and BBU components remain co-located at the cell site.For instance, cell site 113 may include RRH and BBU components. Thus,cell site 113 may comprise a self-contained “base station.” With regardto cell sites 111 and 112, the “base stations” may comprise RRHs at cellsites 111 and 112 coupled with respective baseband units of BBU pool114. In accordance with the present disclosure, any one or more of cellsites 111-113 may be deployed with antenna and radio infrastructures,including multiple input multiple output (MIMO) and millimeter waveantennas. In one example, any one or more of cell sites 111-113 maycomprise one or more directional antennas (e.g., capable of providing ahalf-power azimuthal beamwidth of 60 degrees or less, 30 degrees orless, 15 degrees or less, etc.). In one example, any one or more of cellsites 111-113 may comprise a 5G “new radio” (NR) base station.

In one example, the channel sounding receiver 120 and the channelsounding transmitter 125 may be used to measure wireless channelparameters (broadly, “channel sounding”). In one example, channelsounding receiver 120 may comprise a user equipment, e.g., a mobileendpoint device comprising a cellular telephone, a smartphone, a tabletcomputing device, a laptop computer, or any other cellular-capablemobile telephony and computing. In one example, channel soundingreceiver 120 may comprise a dedicated channel sounding device.Similarly, the channel sounding transmitter 125 may comprise a dedicatedchannel sounding device.

In one example, the channel sounding transmitter 125 may comprise aswitched antenna array with transmitting antennas having differentorientations, e.g., a curved array. For instance, in one example, aswitched antenna array to transmit wireless test signals may have seventransmitting antennas, each antenna oriented to cover 18.5 degrees ofazimuth at half-power beamwidth, which may cover a total of 120 degreesin azimuth (with a small overlap in beamwidth for adjacent antennas inthe array). In one example, the channel sounding transmitter 125 maycomprise one or more phased antenna arrays (e.g., a quantity of M phasedarrays), M RF front ends, and 1-M digital baseband units. In oneexample, the channel sounding transmitter 125 may transmit channelsounding signals (also referred to as “channel sounding waveforms”) forreception and measurement of wireless channel parameters by the channelsounding receiver 120. In general, the channel sounding waveforms mayhave a variety of characteristics, such as those described above, thatmay be specified by the channel sounding transmitter 125 (and/or by anoperator thereof).

In one example, the channel sounding receiver 120 may be used to receivechannel sounding waveforms that are transmitted in an environment fromthe channel sounding transmitter 125, where the channel soundingwaveforms, as received, may be used to calculate or determine themeasures of various wireless channel parameters such as: a compleximpulse response, a path loss, an RSS, a CIR, an excess delay, an RMSdelay spread, an angular spread, a Doppler spread, a fade rate, an AoA,and so forth. For illustrative purposes, the “wireless channel(s)” forwhich the channel sounding receiver 120 is obtaining channel soundingwaveforms and measuring wireless channel parameters may be indicated byreference numeral 190 in FIG. 1.

In one example, the channel sounding receiver 120 includes a pluralityof phased array antennas that may be activated and deactivated accordingto a schedule or otherwise synchronized to the transmission of channelsounding waveforms. In one example, each phased array antenna may bepaired with an RF front end to receive radio frequency (RF) signals fromthe respective phased array antenna and convert the signals intobaseband signals. A digital sampling unit (e.g., an analog-to-digitalconverter (ADC) of a baseband processing unit) may convert the basebandsignals into digital representations of the channel sounding waveformsthat are received via the respective phased array antennas. Forinstance, the digital sampling units may oversample the analog basebandsignals at a sampling interval under the control of timing signals froma clock circuit to create the digital representations of the channelsounding waveforms. In one example, each phased array may cover 90-120degrees in azimuth, 90-180 degrees in elevation, etc., and the phasedarrays may collectively cover 360 degrees in azimuth and 180 degrees inelevation (or greater, e.g., to account for angles below horizon).

In one example, the baseband processing units may output the digitalrepresentations of the channel sounding waveforms to a processor unitthat is configured to perform various operations for determiningmeasures of wireless channel parameters, as described herein. Forinstance, the channel sounding receiver 120 may calculate, based uponthe digital representations of the channel sounding waveforms, a phasedifference between channel sounding waveforms received via respectiveantennas. The processor unit may further determine an angle of arrival(AoA) based upon the antenna positions and the phase difference.

In one example, the channel sounding receiver 120 may receive areference copy or copies of the channel sounding waveforms(s) and/or aset of parameters characterizing the channel sounding waveforms, fromthe channel sounding transmitter 125. Accordingly, the channel soundingreceiver 120 may determine a carrier-to-interference ratio (CIR) bycomparing a sequence received via one of the phased array antennas witha reference copy. Similarly, the channel sounding receiver 120 maycalculate a complex impulse response, a path loss, an RSS, a CIR, anexcess delay, an RMS delay spread, an angular spread, a Doppler spread,a fade rate, an AoA, or the like, from the digital representations ofthe channel sounding waveforms.

In one example, the channel sounding transmitter 125 and the channelsounding receiver 120 may establish a wireless side link for exchangingtiming information (broadly, a synchronization signal) as well as forconveying information regarding the channel sounding waveform (e.g., areference copy and/or modulation parameters, beam information, etc.). Toillustrate, a wireless side link may include a communication session viacellular network infrastructure, e.g., including at least wireless links192 and 193. Alternatively, the wireless side link may comprise awireless communication session via a non-cellular wireless networkingprotocol, such as IEEE 802.11/Wi-Fi, or the like, or via a wirelesscommunication session in accordance with a set of non-restrictedfrequency resources (e.g., using ISM band frequencies). In suchexamples, the non-cellular wireless communication session may include anaccess point (AP) coordinator (not shown) and/or a peer-to-peer session(represented by wireless link 191 in FIG. 1).

In one example, the channel sounding receiver 120 may perform otherfunctions, in addition to channel sounding, in accordance with thepresent disclosure. For instance, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the channelsounding receiver 120 may also include a camera 121, which may be usedto capture imagery of the environment around the channel soundingreceiver 120, where the imagery may be associated with measurements ofwireless channel parameters at one or more locations. In one example,the camera 121 may comprise a 360 degree camera, or an omnidirectionalcamera. The imagery of the environment may be stored at the channelsounding receiver 120 and/or provided to channel sounding transmitter125 and/or another device, such as 145.

In one example, the channel sounding receiver 120 may also include adisplay unit 122. For instance, the channel sounding receiver 120 mayalso be used to generate and display visualizations of wireless channelparameters, which may be presented as additional visual informationoverlaid on imagery of the environment. In one example, the display unit122 may comprise a display screen which may present the visualization(s)of wireless channel parameter(s) over imagery of the environment whichmay be captured from camera 121. In another example, the display unit122 may comprise AR glasses, in which case the presenting of thevisualization(s) of the wireless channel parameter(s) may comprise asemi-transparent projection via AR glasses, e.g., using projector(s) andmirror(s), where the imagery of the environment comprises the outwardview of the user via the AR glasses.

In one example, the channel sounding receiver 120 and channel soundingtransmitter 125 may each comprise all or a portion of a computing deviceor system, such as computing system 500, and/or processing system 502 asdescribed in connection with FIG. 5 below, and may be configured toprovide one or more functions for presenting a visualization of at leastone wireless channel parameter as an overlay on top of an image of anenvironment, and for performing various other operations in accordancewith the present disclosure.

In addition, it should be noted that as used herein, the terms“configure,” and “reconfigure” may refer to programming or loading aprocessing system with computer-readable/computer-executableinstructions, code, and/or programs, e.g., in a distributed ornon-distributed memory, which when executed by a processor, orprocessors, of the processing system within a same device or withindistributed devices, may cause the processing system to perform variousfunctions. Such terms may also encompass providing variables, datavalues, tables, objects, or other data structures or the like which maycause a processing system executing computer-readable instructions,code, and/or programs to function differently depending upon the valuesof the variables or other data structures that are provided. As referredto herein a “processing system” may comprise a computing deviceincluding one or more processors, or cores (e.g., as illustrated in FIG.5 and discussed below) or multiple computing devices collectivelyconfigured to perform various steps, functions, and/or operations inaccordance with the present disclosure.

In one example, the EPC network 105 provides various functions thatsupport wireless services in the LTE environment. In one example, EPCnetwork 105 is an Internet Protocol (IP) packet core network thatsupports both real-time and non-real-time service delivery across a LTEnetwork, e.g., as specified by the 3GPP standards. In one example, cellsites 111 and 112 in the access network 103 are in communication withthe EPC network 105 via baseband units in BBU pool 114. In operation, UE116 may access wireless services via the cell site 111 and UE 117 mayaccess wireless services via the cell site 112 located in the accessnetwork 103. It should be noted that any number of cell sites can bedeployed in access network. In one illustrative example, the accessnetwork 103 may comprise one or more cell sites.

In EPC network 105, network devices such as Mobility Management Entity(MME) 107 and Serving Gateway (SGW) 108 support various functions aspart of the cellular network 101. For example, MME 107 is the controlnode for the LTE access network. In one embodiment, MME 107 isresponsible for UE (User Equipment) tracking and paging (e.g., such asretransmissions), bearer activation and deactivation process, selectionof the SGW, and authentication of a user. In one embodiment, SGW 108routes and forwards user data packets, while also acting as the mobilityanchor for the user plane during inter-cell handovers and as the anchorfor mobility between 5G, LTE and other wireless technologies, such as 2Gand 3G wireless networks.

In addition, EPC network 105 may comprise a Home Subscriber Server (HSS)109 that contains subscription-related information (e.g., subscriberprofiles), performs authentication and authorization of a wirelessservice user, and provides information about the subscriber's location.The EPC network 105 may also comprise a packet data network (PDN)gateway 110 which serves as a gateway that provides access between theEPC network 105 and various data networks, e.g., service network 140,IMS core network 115, other network(s) 180, and the like. The packetdata network gateway 110 is also referred to as a PDN gateway, a PDN GWor a PGW. In addition, the EPC network 105 may include a Diameterrouting agent (DRA) 106, which may be engaged in the proper routing ofmessages between other elements within EPC network 105, and with othercomponents of the system 100, such as a call session control function(CSCF) (not shown) in IMS core network 115. For clarity, the connectionsbetween DRA 106 and other components of EPC network 105 are omitted fromthe illustration of FIG. 1.

In one example, service network 140 may comprise one or more devices,such as application server (AS) 145 for providing services tosubscribers, customers, personnel of an operator of thetelecommunication service provider network 170, and/or other users. Forexample, telecommunication service provider network 170 may provide acloud storage service, web server hosting, and other services. As such,service network 140 may represent aspects of telecommunication serviceprovider network 170 where infrastructure for supporting such servicesmay be deployed. In one example, AS 145 may comprise all or a portion ofa computing device or system, such as computing system 500, and/orprocessing system 502 as described in connection with FIG. 5 below,specifically configured to provide one or more functions for presentinga visualization of at least one wireless channel parameter as an overlayon top of an image of an environment in accordance with the presentdisclosure. For instance, channel sounding receiver 120 and/or channelsounding transmitter 125 may forward measurements of wireless channelparameters from channel sounding receiver 120 to AS 145 for storage.Either or both of channel sounding receiver 120 and channel soundingtransmitter 125 may also forward additional data to AS 145 for storage,such as reference copies of the channel sounding waveform(s) and/orparameters thereof, transmit beam information, time stamp information,location information of the channel sounding receiver 120 and channelsounding transmitter 125, imagery of the environment at variouslocations, and so forth.

In one example AS 145 may generate the one or more visualizations ofwireless channel parameters and may provide the one or morevisualizations to an AR device for presentation. Alternatively, or inaddition, AS 145 may provide wireless channel parameters to one or moreAR devices, which may then generate and present visualization(s) of thewireless channel parameter(s) associated with respective locations in aphysical environment, or in a virtual environment that is representativeof the physical environment from which the measurements of the wirelesschannel parameters are obtained. For instance, UE 117 may be incommunication with AS 145 via telecommunication service provider network170 and may indicate a location of the UE 117. In one example, UE 117may also indicate a desired wireless channel parameter (e.g., receivedsignal strength). AS 145 may then generate a visualization of thewireless channel parameters for the location and transmit thevisualization to UE 117. UE 117 may then render and display thevisualization as a transparent overlay projected over a current view ofa user.

As another example, UE 116 may be in communication with AS 145 viatelecommunication service provider network 170 and may indicate alocation of the UE 116 in a virtual environment that is representativeof a physical environment. In one example, UE 116 may also indicate adesired wireless channel parameter (e.g., received signal strength). AS145 may then generate a visualization of the wireless channel parametersfor the location. In addition, AS 145 may also retrieve imagery of theenvironment that is associated with the location, and may transmit boththe visualization and the imagery of the environment to UE 116.Accordingly, UE 116 may overlay the visualization on top of the imageryof the environment, and may present the combination via a displayscreen. Thus, although UE 116 may be physically present at or near thelocation(s) from which the wireless channel parameters are measured, UE116 may also be at an entirely remote location, where a user mayvisually experience the wireless channel in virtual reality.

Although a single application server, AS 145, is illustrated in servicenetwork 140, it should be understood that service network 140 mayinclude any number of components to support one or more services thatmay be provided to one or more subscribers, customers, or users by thetelecommunication service provider network 170.

In one example, other networks 180 may represent one or more enterprisenetworks, a circuit switched network (e.g., a public switched telephonenetwork (PSTN)), a cable network, a digital subscriber line (DSL)network, a metropolitan area network (MAN), an Internet service provider(ISP) network, and the like. In one example, the other networks 180 mayinclude different types of networks. In another example, the othernetworks 180 may be the same type of network. In one example, the othernetworks 180 may represent the Internet in general.

In accordance with the present disclosure, any one or more of thecomponents of EPC network 105 may comprise network functionvirtualization infrastructure (NFVI), e.g., SDN host devices (i.e.,physical devices) configured to operate as various virtual networkfunctions (VNFs), such as a virtual MME (vMME), a virtual HHS (vHSS), avirtual serving gateway (vSGW), a virtual packet data network gateway(vPGW), and so forth. For instance, MME 107 may comprise a vMME, SGW 108may comprise a vSGW, and so forth. In this regard, the EPC network 105may be expanded (or contracted) to include more or less components thanthe state of EPC network 105 that is illustrated in FIG. 1. In thisregard, the EPC network 105 may also include a self-optimizing network(SON)/software defined network (SDN) controller 102.

In one example, SON/SDN controller 102 may function as a self-optimizingnetwork (SON) orchestrator that is responsible for activating anddeactivating, allocating and deallocating, and otherwise managing avariety of network components. In one example, SON/SDN controller 102may further comprise a SDN controller that is responsible forinstantiating, configuring, managing, and releasing VNFs. For example,in a SDN architecture, a SDN controller may instantiate VNFs on sharedhardware, e.g., NFVI/host devices/SDN nodes, which may be physicallylocated in various places.

The foregoing description of the system 100 is provided as anillustrative example only. In other words, the example of system 100 ismerely illustrative of one network configuration that is suitable forimplementing embodiments of the present disclosure. As such, otherlogical and/or physical arrangements for the system 100 may beimplemented in accordance with the present disclosure. For example,channel sounding may utilize multiple channel sounding receivers toreceive channel sounding signals/waveforms from channel soundingtransmitter 125. Similarly, multiple mobile channel soundingtransmitters may be utilized for channel sounding in conjunction withchannel sounding receiver 120 and/or multiple channel soundingreceivers.

The above examples are described in connection with a channel soundingsystem comprising channel sounding receiver 120 and channel soundingtransmitter 125. However, in another example, the wireless channelparameters may be measured in connection with channel sounding via abase station, e.g., cell site 112. In other words, cell site 112 maycomprise the channel sounding transmitter, where the “wirelesschannel(s)” for which the channel sounding receiver 120 is obtainingchannel sounding waveforms and measuring wireless channel parameters maybe indicated by reference numeral 195 in FIG. 1. Similarly, examples aredescribed above where UE 116 and UE 117 obtain wireless channelparameters and/or visualizations of wireless channel parameters from AS145. However, in other examples, UE 116 and/or UE 117 may alternativelyor additionally obtain wireless channel parameters and/or visualizationsof wireless channel parameters (as well as imagery of the environment,in some cases) from channel sounding receiver 120 and/or from channelsounding transmitter 125. For example, UE 116 and/or UE 117 maycommunicate with channel sounding receiver 120 and/or channel soundingtransmitter 125 via cellular network 101 and/or in accordance with anon-cellular wireless networking protocol, such as a wireless local areanetwork protocol (e.g., IEEE 802.11, or the like), or a wirelesspeer-to-peer protocol (e.g., IEEE 802.15).

In one example, the system 100 may be expanded to include additionalnetworks, such as network operations center (NOC) networks, additionalaccess networks, and so forth. The system 100 may also be expanded toinclude additional network elements such as border elements, routers,switches, policy servers, security devices, gateways, a contentdistribution network (CDN) and the like, without altering the scope ofthe present disclosure. In addition, system 100 may be altered to omitvarious elements, substitute elements for devices that perform the sameor similar functions, combine elements that are illustrated as separatedevices, and/or implement network elements as functions that are spreadacross several devices that operate collectively as the respectivenetwork elements. For instance, in one example, SON/SDN controller 102may be spilt into separate components to operate as a SON orchestratorand a SDN controller, respectively. Similarly, although the SON/SDNcontroller 102 is illustrated as a component of EPC network 105, inanother example SON/SDN controller 102, and/or other network componentsmay be deployed in an IMS core network 115 instead of being deployedwithin the EPC network 105, or in other portions of system 100 that arenot shown, while providing essentially the same functionality.

In addition, although aspects of the present disclosure have beendiscussed above in the context of a long term evolution (LTE)-based corenetwork (e.g., EPC network 105), examples of the present disclosure arenot so limited. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the cellularnetwork 101 may represent a “non-stand alone” (NSA) mode architecturewhere 5G radio access network components, such as a “new radio” (NR),“gNodeB” (or “gNB”), and so forth are supported by a 4G/LTE core network(e.g., a Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network 105). However, in anotherexample, system 100 may instead comprise a 5G “standalone” (SA) modepoint-to-point or service-based architecture where components andfunctions of EPC network 105 are replaced by a 5G core network, whichmay include an access and mobility management function (AMF), a userplane function (UPF), a session management function (SMF), a policycontrol function (PCF), a unified data management function (UDM), anauthentication server function (AUSF), an application function (AF), anetwork repository function (NRF), and so on. For instance, in such anetwork, application server (AS) 145 of FIG. 1 may represent anapplication function (AF) for adjusting aspects of a cellular network inresponse to measurements of wireless channel parameters by a receiverdevice, and for performing various other operations in accordance withthe present disclosure. In addition, any one or more of cell sites111-113 may comprise 2G, 3G, 4G and/or LTE radios, e.g., in addition to5G new radio (NR) functionality. For instance, in non-standalone (NSA)mode architecture, LTE radio equipment may continue to be used for cellsignaling and management communications, while user data may rely upon a5G new radio (NR), including millimeter wave communications, forexample. Thus, these and other modifications are all contemplated withinthe scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates a first example 200 of a presentation of avisualization 215 of at least one wireless channel parameter as anoverlay on top of an image 210 of an environment. In one example, theimage 210 of the environment may be presented via a display screen andmay be overlaid with the visualization 215. In another example, thevisualization 215 may comprise a projection (e.g., a semi-transparentprojection) using projector(s) and mirror(s) via AR glasses, where theimage 210 of the environment comprises the outward view of the user viathe AR glasses.

As described above, the visualization 215 may comprise one or morevectors representing one wireless channel parameters. For instance,vectors may be generated and presented such that the vectors appear tobe pointing toward or away from a location of an AR device (e.g., at acurrent location in the physical environment, and/or from a perspectivewithin a virtual environment comprising the image 210 that isrepresentative of the physical environment). For example, the wirelesschannel parameters may be represented as line segments (in this casearrows) having lengths and/or thicknesses which are representative ofmagnitudes of the respective wireless channel parameters. The AR devicemay comprise a channel sounding receiver, where the visualization 215may include vectors representing current measurements of wirelesschannel parameters. In another example, the AR device may be movedthroughout the environment (virtually or physically), where thevisualization 215 may be rendered for a given location and orientation(viewport) from previously measured wireless channel parameters.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, each vector, or line segment, may also have adirection that is indicative of an angle of arrival (AoA) (or angle ofdeparture (AoD) for visualizations of the wireless channel from atransmitter perspective and/or for with respect to an uplink from theperspective of a channel sounding receiver to a channel soundingtransmitter). The directions of arrival and/or departure, and themagnitudes may allow a user, such as network technician, to identifylocations of interest. For instance, vector 220 is the largest vectorand may indicate the AoA associated with the greatest received signalstrength (RSS). The technician may also see that this corresponds to aphysical feature of the environment. For instance, vector 220 appears tobe aligned with a hallway extending toward a row of windows. This may bein general direction of a channel sounding transmitter and appears toshow an area where there may be little interference with the channelsounding signals (e.g., no thick walls, only glass/windows, etc.).Although a row of glass doors appears straight ahead in the image 210,the RSS from this direction may still be less than from the direction ofvector 220. Thus, these and other useful observations may be made by atechnician via the visualizations enabled by the example 200.

FIG. 3 illustrates an additional example 300 of a presentation of avisualization 315 of at least one wireless channel parameter as anoverlay on top of an image 310 of an environment. In one example, theimage 310 of the environment may be presented via a display screen andmay be overlaid with the visualization 315. In another example, thevisualization 315 may comprise a projection (e.g., a semi-transparentprojection) using projector(s) and mirror(s) via AR glasses, where theimage 310 of the environment comprises the outward view of the user viathe AR glasses.

For illustrative purposes, the image 310 is the same as image 210 of theexample 200 of FIG. 2. However, in the example 300, the visualization315 may include vectors representing one or more wireless channelparameters for other locations that are within a field of view at thegiven location for which the visualization 315 is rendered (e.g.,locations which are visible from the current perspective as shown inimage 210). For instance, a richer vector field may be provided whichincludes not only the vectors for wireless channel parameters asmeasured from the given location, but also for other visible locations.Similar to the example 200, the magnitudes of the wireless channelparameters may be indicated by thickness and/or segment length. However,it should be understood that in other examples, magnitude may beindicated by colors according to a designated color scheme, by linesegment/vector density, and so on. Thus, for instance, it can be seen(e.g., by a technician) in the example 300 that region 320 comprises anarea where the wireless channel parameters (e.g., received signalstrengths (RSSs)) have greater magnitude as compared to region 325.Other useful observations may be made by a technician via thevisualizations enabled by the example 300. For instance, it may be seenthat AoA appears to be from left to right (facing the page) near the topof the room visible in image 310, and right to left bear the bottom ofthe room visible in the image 310. If the technician is consideringdeployment of a customer premises equipment (CPE), for example, theantenna/receiver orientation may be optimally arranged depending uponthe height at which the CPE will be deployed (e.g., pointing toward theright (with respect to facing the page) if deployed near the groundversus pointing towards the left if deployed closer to the ceiling).

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 400 for presenting avisualization of at least one wireless channel parameter as an overlayon top of an image of an environment, in accordance with the presentdisclosure. In one example, steps, functions, and/or operations of themethod 400 may be performed by a device as illustrated in FIG. 1, e.g.,a channel sounding receiver, a channel sounding transmitter, a userequipment or AR device, a server, or any one or more components thereof,such as a processing system, one or more transceivers, one or moreantennas or antenna arrays (e.g., a phased array antenna), a GPS unit,and so forth. In accordance with the present disclosure a processingsystem may include one or more processors, which can include CPUs,programmable logic devices (PLDs), application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), or the like, or a combination thereof. For instance, aprocessing system may include central processing unit, a digitalbaseband unit, and so forth. In one example, the steps, functions, oroperations of method 400 may be performed by a plurality of such devicesin conjunction with one another. In one example, the steps, functions,or operations of method 400 may be performed by a computing device orsystem 500, and/or processor 502 as described in connection with FIG. 5below. For instance, the computing device or system 500 may representany one or more components of one or more components of the system 100of FIG. 1 that is/are configured to perform the steps, functions and/oroperations of the method 400. Similarly, in one example, the steps,functions, or operations of method 400 may be performed by a processingsystem comprising one or more computing devices collectively configuredto perform various steps, functions, and/or operations of the method400. For instance, multiple instances of the computing device orprocessing system 500 may collectively function as a processing system.For illustrative purposes, the method 400 is described in greater detailbelow in connection with an example performed by a processing system.The method 400 begins in step 405 and may proceed to step 410.

At step 410, the processing system obtains at least a first wirelesschannel parameter of at least a first location. In one example, at leastthe first wireless channel parameter of at least the first locationcomprises a plurality of wireless channel parameters of at least thefirst location, where the plurality of wireless channel parametersindicates a plurality of different directions of the plurality ofwireless channel parameters. In one example, the plurality of wirelesschannel parameters of at least the first location comprises a pluralityof wireless channel parameters of a plurality of locations. In addition,the plurality of wireless channel parameters may further indicate aplurality of different magnitudes of the plurality of wireless channelparameters. The plurality of wireless channel parameters may compriseone or more KPIs, such as a complex impulse response, a path loss, areceived signal strength (RSS), e.g., a reference signal received power(RSRP), a carrier-to-interference (CIR) ratio (or signal-to-noise ratio(SNR)), an excess delay, a root-mean-square (RMS) delay spread, anangular spread, a Doppler spread, a fade rate, an angle of arrival(AoA), an angle of departure (AoD), or the like.

In one example, the processing system comprises a channel soundingreceiver. In such case, step 410 may comprise obtaining at least a firstchannel sounding waveform from a channel sounding transmitter andcalculating at least the first wireless channel parameter in accordancewith at least the first channel sounding waveform. Step 410 may furtherinclude obtaining channel sounding waveforms and calculating wirelesschannel parameters at a first location, at a second location, and soforth. In another example, the obtaining of at least the first wirelesschannel parameter of at least the first location may comprise retrievingat least the first wireless channel parameter (and in some examples, oneor more additional parameters) from a server, from a memory or storageunit of the processing system, from a channel sounding receiver and/orfrom a channel sounding transmitter, and so forth.

At step 420, the processing system generates a first visualization of atleast the first wireless channel parameter, where the visualizationindicates at least one of: a magnitude of the first wireless channelparameter or a direction of the first wireless channel parameter. Forinstance, the plurality of wireless channel parameters may indicate aplurality of different directions of the plurality of wireless channelparameters. In addition, the plurality of wireless channel parametersmay indicate a plurality of different magnitudes of the plurality ofwireless channel parameters. To illustrate, for each wireless channelparameter of the plurality of wireless channel parameters, a magnitudeand a direction are indicated in the first visualization by a linearsegment aligned in the direction. In one example, a thickness of thelinear segment may correspond to the magnitude of the respectivewireless channel parameter. In another example, a length of the linearsegment may correspond to the magnitude of the respective wirelesschannel parameter. In still another example, a color of the linearsegment may correspond to the magnitude of the respective wirelesschannel parameter according to a designated color scale (e.g., red isgreater in magnitude, yellow is of a median magnitude, blue is lesser inmagnitude, etc.). In one example, a combination of any of the foregoingtypes of indicators may be used, e.g., thickness and length bothcorresponding to the magnitude of the respective wireless channelparameter.

As mentioned above in connection with step 410, in one example, theplurality of wireless channel parameters of at least the first locationcomprises a plurality of wireless channel parameters of a plurality oflocations. In such an example, the first visualization may indicate theplurality of different directions of the plurality of wireless channelparameters from the plurality of locations (e.g., the plurality oflocations being within a field of view of a display device via which thefirst visualization is to be presented). In one example, the firstvisualization comprises a vector field that includes at least a firstvector that indicates the direction of at least the first wirelesschannel parameter. In one example, the first vector further indicatesthe magnitude of the first wireless channel parameter. In one example,the first visualization may include an indication of an estimation of awireless channel parameter based upon an interpolation between the firstwireless channel parameter and at least a second wireless channelparameter of the plurality of wireless channel parameters.

At optional step 425, the processing system may capture a first image ofan environment associated with a first location (e.g., captured at thefirst location). For instance, the processing system may include adigital camera (e.g., a 360 degree camera, an omnidirectional camera, orthe like) which may capture the first image at the first location at asame time or a different time as the obtaining of at least the firstwireless channel parameter of at least the first location of step 410.

At step 430, the processing system presents the first visualization ofat least the first wireless channel parameter as an overlay on top of afirst image of an environment associated with the first location via adisplay device. For instance, the first visualization may be of any formas described above, e.g., line segments/vectors having magnitudes and/ordirections as indicated. In one example, the overlay on top of the firstimage may be similar to the example 200 of FIG. 2 or the example 300 ofFIG. 3.

In one example, the display device comprises an augmented realitydevice. Alternatively, or in addition, in one example, the displaydevice may comprise a virtual reality device. In one example, thedisplay device is present at the first location at a time of thepresenting the first visualization. In addition, in one example, theprocessing system may comprise the display device. The first image ofthe environment may be obtained via optional step 425 or may be obtainedin another way, such as via a separate camera and/or image capturedevice, from a server storing the first image (and which may be capturedvia another device), and so on.

At optional step 440, the processing system may generate a secondvisualization of at least the second wireless channel parameter, wherethe second visualization indicates at least one of: a magnitude of thesecond wireless channel parameter or a direction of the second wirelesschannel parameter. For example, as mentioned above, the plurality ofwireless channel parameters of at least the first location may comprisea plurality of wireless channel parameters of a plurality of locations(e.g., including at least a second location). Thus, step 440 may relateto a second visualization associated with a second location and withrespect to at least a second wireless channel parameter of the secondlocation. In one example, optional step 440 may comprise the same orsimilar operations as described above in connection with step 420.

At optional step 445, the processing system may capture a second imageof the environment associated with a second location (e.g., captured atthe second location). For instance, optional step 445 may comprise thesame or similar operations as described above in connection withoptional step 225.

At optional step 450, the processing system may present the secondvisualization of at least the second wireless channel parameter as anoverlay on top of a second image of an environment associated with thesecond location via the display device. For instance, optional step 450may comprise the same or similar operations as described above inconnection with step 430. In one example, the generating the secondvisualization of optional step 440 and the presenting the secondvisualization of optional step 450 (and in some instances, the capturingof the second image of optional step 445) are performed in response to amovement of the display device from the first location to the secondlocation. In another example, the generating the second visualizationand the presenting the second visualization are performed in response toan input indicating a movement of a field of view of the display devicefrom the first location to the second location (e.g., where the displaydevice comprises a VR device that may not be physically present at thesecond location).

Following step 430 or any of the optional steps 440-450, the method 400may proceed to step 495 where the method 400 ends.

It should be noted that the method 400 may be expanded to includeadditional steps, or may be modified to replace steps with differentsteps, to combine steps, to omit steps, to perform steps in a differentorder, and so forth. For example, the method 400 may include repeatingone or more steps of the method 400 in connection with additionallocations, with respect to different fields-of-view/viewports at thefirst location or second location, with respect to different wirelesschannel parameters, and so on. In one example, the capturing of thefirst image of optional step 425 and the capturing of the second imageof step 445, may be performed at or around the same time (e.g., duringchannel sounding measurements). Similarly, the method 400 is describedand illustrated where the wireless channel parameters for the firstlocation and the second location are obtained at step 410. However, inanother example, the method 400 may be modified to utilize a differentprocess. For instance, the second wireless channel parameters of thesecond location may be obtained after step 430 and before step 440.Thus, these and other modifications are all contemplated within thescope of the present disclosure.

In addition, although not specifically specified, one or more steps,functions, or operations of the method 400 may include a storing,displaying, and/or outputting step as required for a particularapplication. In other words, any data, records, fields, and/orintermediate results discussed in the method(s) can be stored,displayed, and/or outputted either on the device executing the method(s)or to another device, as required for a particular application.Furthermore, steps, blocks, functions or operations in FIG. 4 thatrecite a determining operation or involve a decision do not necessarilyrequire that both branches of the determining operation be practiced. Inother words, one of the branches of the determining operation can bedeemed as an optional step. Furthermore, steps, blocks, functions oroperations of the above described method(s) can be combined, separated,and/or performed in a different order from that described above, withoutdeparting from the example examples of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 depicts a high-level block diagram of a computing device orprocessing system 500 specifically programmed to perform the functionsdescribed herein. As depicted in FIG. 5, the processing system 500comprises one or more hardware processor elements 502 (e.g., a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, or a multi-core processor), amemory 504 (e.g., random access memory (RAM) and/or read only memory(ROM)), a module 505 for presenting a visualization of at least onewireless channel parameter as an overlay on top of an image of anenvironment, and various input/output devices 506 (e.g., storagedevices, including but not limited to, a tape drive, a floppy drive, ahard disk drive or a compact disk drive, a receiver, a transmitter, aspeaker, a display, a speech synthesizer, an output port, an input portand a user input device (such as a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, amicrophone and the like)). In accordance with the present disclosureinput/output devices 506 may also include antenna elements, antennaarrays, remote radio heads (RRHs), baseband units (BBUs), transceivers,power units, GPS units, and so forth. Although only one processorelement is shown, it should be noted that the computing device mayemploy a plurality of processor elements. Furthermore, although only onecomputing device is shown in the figure, if the method 400 as discussedabove is implemented in a distributed or parallel manner for aparticular illustrative example, i.e., the steps of the above method400, or the entire method 400, is implemented across multiple orparallel computing devices, e.g., a processing system, then thecomputing device of this figure is intended to represent each of thosemultiple computing devices.

Furthermore, one or more hardware processors can be utilized insupporting a virtualized or shared computing environment. Thevirtualized computing environment may support one or more virtualmachines representing computers, servers, or other computing devices. Insuch virtualized virtual machines, hardware components such as hardwareprocessors and computer-readable storage devices may be virtualized orlogically represented. The hardware processor 502 can also be configuredor programmed to cause other devices to perform one or more operationsas discussed above. In other words, the hardware processor 502 may servethe function of a central controller directing other devices to performthe one or more operations as discussed above.

It should be noted that the present disclosure can be implemented insoftware and/or in a combination of software and hardware, e.g., usingapplication specific integrated circuits (ASIC), a programmable gatearray (PGA) including a Field PGA, or a state machine deployed on ahardware device, a computing device or any other hardware equivalents,e.g., computer readable instructions pertaining to the method discussedabove can be used to configure a hardware processor to perform thesteps, functions and/or operations of the above disclosed method 400. Inone example, instructions and data for the present module or process 505for presenting a visualization of at least one wireless channelparameter as an overlay on top of an image of an environment (e.g., asoftware program comprising computer-executable instructions) can beloaded into memory 504 and executed by hardware processor element 502 toimplement the steps, functions, or operations as discussed above inconnection with the illustrative method 400. Furthermore, when ahardware processor executes instructions to perform “operations,” thiscould include the hardware processor performing the operations directlyand/or facilitating, directing, or cooperating with another hardwaredevice or component (e.g., a co-processor and the like) to perform theoperations.

The processor executing the computer readable or software instructionsrelating to the above described method can be perceived as a programmedprocessor or a specialized processor. As such, the present module 505for presenting a visualization of at least one wireless channelparameter as an overlay on top of an image of an environment (includingassociated data structures) of the present disclosure can be stored on atangible or physical (broadly non-transitory) computer-readable storagedevice or medium, e.g., volatile memory, non-volatile memory, ROMmemory, RAM memory, magnetic or optical drive, device or diskette, andthe like. Furthermore, a “tangible” computer-readable storage device ormedium comprises a physical device, a hardware device, or a device thatis discernible by the touch. More specifically, the computer-readablestorage device may comprise any physical devices that provide theability to store information such as data and/or instructions to beaccessed by a processor or a computing device such as a computer or anapplication server.

While various examples have been described above, it should beunderstood that they have been presented by way of illustration only,and not a limitation. Thus, the breadth and scope of any aspect of thepresent disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-describedexamples, but should be defined only in accordance with the followingclaims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: obtaining, by a processingsystem including at least one processor, at least a first wirelesschannel parameter of at least a first location; generating, by theprocessing system, a first visualization of the at least the firstwireless channel parameter, wherein the first visualization indicates atleast one of: a magnitude of the at least the first wireless channelparameter or a direction of the at least the first wireless channelparameter; and presenting, by the processing system, the firstvisualization of the at least the first wireless channel parameter as anoverlay on top of a first image of an environment associated with thefirst location via a display device.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinthe display device comprises a virtual reality device.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the display device comprises an augmented realitydevice.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the display device is presentat the first location at a time of the presenting the firstvisualization.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein a magnitude and adirection for the first wireless channel parameter are indicated in thefirst visualization by a linear segment aligned in the direction and athickness of the linear segment corresponding to the magnitude.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein a magnitude and a direction for the firstwireless channel parameter are indicated in the first visualization by alinear segment aligned in the direction and a length of the linearsegment corresponding to the magnitude.
 7. The method of claim 1,wherein a magnitude and a direction for the first wireless channelparameter are indicated in the first visualization by a linear segmentaligned in the direction and a color of the linear segment correspondingto the magnitude according to a designated color scale.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the first visualization comprises an indication of anestimation of a wireless channel parameter based upon an interpolationbetween the at least the first wireless channel parameter and at least asecond wireless channel parameter of a second location.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the first visualization comprises a vector field thatincludes at least a first vector that indicates the direction of the atleast the first wireless channel parameter.
 10. The method of claim 1,wherein the at least the first location comprises a plurality oflocations, wherein the plurality of locations includes a secondlocation, wherein the at least the first wireless channel parametercomprises a plurality of wireless channel parameters, wherein theplurality of wireless channel parameters includes at least a secondwireless channel parameter of the second location, the method furthercomprising: generating a second visualization of the at least the secondwireless channel parameter, wherein the second visualization indicatesat least one of a magnitude of the at least the second wireless channelparameter or a direction of the at least the second wireless channelparameter; and presenting the second visualization of the at least thesecond wireless channel parameter as an overlay on top of a second imageof the environment associated with the second location via the displaydevice.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the generating the secondvisualization and the presenting the second visualization are performedin response to a movement of the display device from the first locationto the second location.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein thegenerating the second visualization and the presenting the secondvisualization are performed in response to an input indicating amovement of a field of view of the display device from the firstlocation to the second location.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein theprocessing system comprises the display device.
 14. The method of claim1, wherein the processing system comprises a channel sounding receiver,and wherein the obtaining the at least the first wireless channelparameter of the at least the first location comprises: obtaining atleast a first channel sounding waveform from a channel soundingtransmitter; and calculating the at least the first wireless channelparameter in accordance with the at least the first channel soundingwaveform.
 15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storinginstructions which, when executed by a processing system including atleast one processor, cause the processing system to perform operations,the operations comprising: obtaining at least a first wireless channelparameter of at least a first location; generating a first visualizationof the at least the first wireless channel parameter, wherein the firstvisualization indicates at least one of: a magnitude of the at least thefirst wireless channel parameter or a direction of the at least thefirst wireless channel parameter; and presenting the first visualizationof the at least the first wireless channel parameter as an overlay ontop of a first image of an environment associated with the firstlocation via a display device.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 15, wherein the first visualization comprises a vectorfield that includes at least a first vector that indicates the directionof the at least the first wireless channel parameter.
 17. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the atleast the first location comprises a plurality of locations, wherein theplurality of locations includes a second location, wherein the at leastthe first wireless channel parameter comprises a plurality of wirelesschannel parameters, wherein the plurality of wireless channel parametersincludes at least a second wireless channel parameter of the secondlocation, the operations further comprising: generating a secondvisualization of the at least the second wireless channel parameter,wherein the second visualization indicates at least one of a magnitudeof the at least the second wireless channel parameter or a direction ofthe at least the second wireless channel parameter; and presenting thesecond visualization of the at least the second wireless channelparameter as an overlay on top of a second image of the environmentassociated with the second location via the display device.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein thegenerating the second visualization and the presenting the secondvisualization are performed in response to a movement of the displaydevice from the first location to the second location.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein thegenerating the second visualization and the presenting the secondvisualization are performed in response to an input indicating amovement of a field of view of the display device from the firstlocation to the second location.
 20. An apparatus comprising: aprocessing system including at least one processor; and acomputer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed bythe processing system, cause the processing system to performoperations, the operations comprising: obtaining at least a firstwireless channel parameter of at least a first location; generating afirst visualization of the at least the first wireless channelparameter, wherein the first visualization indicates at least one of: amagnitude of the at least the first wireless channel parameter or adirection of the at least the first wireless channel parameter; andpresenting the first visualization of the at least the first wirelesschannel parameter as an overlay on top of a first image of anenvironment associated with the first location via a display device.